Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-09-16
THE QUEEN OF ITALY.
A Charming Woman with Some Little
plebeian Vanities.


Queen Marghcrita is charming woman
and fairly pretty, writes a Rome cores
pondent. She is eXccllently educated,
knows a good deal about literature, and is
even writing Il book, they say. She IA
fond of needlcwork, and has done some
very crcdiable work Her literary taste
is good and il is probable that in her
forthcoming book she will say some
things worth reading. The subject of
the book is said to be THE Duties of the
Wife and the Education of CHILDREN"
which is certainly the very best subject on
which a Queen should advise the mothers
and wives of her country. She drives out
every day, and as the livery of her coach
man and footman is of an intense red, one
can always recognize her. To look at her
as she drives along the Corso one must
adm, She is fair. She is tall and well
built "a little two well, of recent months)
brown hair and pretty brown eyes, a nice
large mouth, and excellent teeth, with the
prcttcSt smile to show them; an excellent
complexion, too Everything she has in
proportion just right, except that her nose
Is too big There is no use denying it,
and the photographers may pose her rs
they will, they can't wipe away that nose.
She too has a charming manner, and her
voice is sweet and well modulatcd. She
dcvotcs much time to her toilet, but her
dress is always simple, and, of course, in
excellent taste. She is not hard to APP
proach, and in her drives along the streets
the people often throw petitions into her
carriage. or even run alongside and tell
their woes. 1t is not hard to be presented
at court-n6nitely easier, in fact, than TO
e7en see the Pope Americans are fire.
quently at her receptions. y story Is told
here of an American mother and daughter
which may not be old in America. l will
risk il for the story's sake.
Ih mother and daughter had through
some one, received invitations to attend
reception. They came, magnificent. The
Queen, it should be told, had slipped
day or two before and had injured her toe.
Well the old lady made her best bow, and
made fairly proper replies To the one or
two remarks Of The Queen, who speaks
English. Then, as the lady was about to
move on, she said, suddenly 30, | almost
forgot Queen how's your toer And
turning TO her daughter She added: ''Next
time we stop here we must give the Queen
some of that saiye, Mary" They never
stopped again She is a very devout Cath
Ollie, and it is said that when Pope Plus
was laid in state or all the faithful to kiss
the dead Pontils toe for the last time
Queen Marghcrita Joined the long line Of
mourning. and kissed his toe as humbly
and dcyoutly rs the humblcst peasant girl
who stood before her. Naturally, then,
she is anxious for Cancellation with the
Vatican, and is doing all She can in quiet
way TO bring about that end. During
Holy Week She visits seven churches every
day. Her fayoritc chapel is the little San
Sudario. So quietly and unostcntatiously
does she enter church that not long ago
she was obliged to knccl upon the cold
marble floor at the Pantheon, among the
crowd. the priest not having noticed her
entrance. SO dcyOut a believer Is she that
her enemies say she is bigoted.
Anyone seeming her now will find IL
hard to believe that her health is not good.
She looks bctter-much better-now than
she has for a year past Since 1879, when
the attempt was made 10 stab the King at
Naples, who was riding beside her, she
has suffered very much. and il seems to be
an open secret that her physicians fear her
mind has been affected. Espcc lily was
This the ease three or four years ago, and
on the occasion OF visit 10 Genoa it is
said 10 have been painfully apparent that
her mind was somewhat disturbed. How
ever, the has much recovered now, and
her physicians have every reason to hope
that IN "a shor time every trace Of the in
tense nervous shock she suffered will have
disappeared She is as brave and fearless
as her husband, and she is only woman
in her fondncss for admiration. Every
one here speaks about recent adventure
in the thcatcr at Turin. She intended 10
give her loving people pleasant surprise.
She entered very quietly and sat down in
the royal box. To her horror, there was
no popular outburst No people rose en-
massc and shouted their "vivas" No
orchestra ground ont the national anthem.
The unhappy, disappointed woman sat
down and actually cried like little
child. She sent for the Mayor of the
city NOW Senator Ferraris). and